A view of Iran’s Kharg Island, which hosts the country’s main crude export terminal and is responsible for the overwhelming majority of its oil shipments to the world.
| Photo Credit: AFP
President Donald Trump said on Friday (March 14, 2026) that U.S. forces have “obliterated” military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island and warned that the oil infrastructure there could be next.
The small island in the Persian Gulf is the primary terminal through which Iran’s oil exports pass. Mr. Trump announced the action in a Truth Social post as he prepared to fly to Florida for the weekend.
“The United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” Trump said on social media.
“I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider.”
The island, located around 30 kilometers (19 miles) off the Iranian mainland, handles roughly 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports, according to a recent J.P. Morgan note.
Any move on the territory, which is about one-third the size of Manhattan, would have swift repercussions, experts said.
“A direct strike would immediately halt the bulk of Iran’s crude exports, likely triggering severe retaliation in the Strait of Hormuz or against regional energy infrastructure,” J.P. Morgan said.
Iranian strikes have all but halted maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally pass — and have also impacted oil infrastructure in other Gulf states.
Mr. Trump on Friday (March 13, 2026) said the U.S. Navy would start escorting tankers through the straits “very soon” to restore oil exports as he struggles to tackle soaring U.S. gas prices.
Kharg underwent key developments during Iran’s oil expansion in the 1960s and 1970s, with much of the country’s coast too shallow for supertankers.
With inputs from AP, AFP
Published – March 14, 2026 06:01 am IST
